Nuragic monuments of Sardinia

I visited 4 of this serial site locations in August-September of 2023 on a self-driven tour around Sardinia, in addition to the already inscribed Su Nuraxi di Barumini.

Santu Antine was one nuraghe that I would call the most impressive, even more so than Su Nuraxi. Unlike the latter, Santu Antine's defined interior spaces actually allow proper exploration of the main structure, including several fairly walkable covered passages. It is hard to imagine that it would be overlooked for inclusion when and if the decision to extend comes along. It is also more photogenic, IMHO.

Palmavera is significantly more compact in its core, but its outer precincts are not far behind those at Su Nuraxi. There are a couple of uncommon surviving artifacts on the grounds, such as a sandstone nuraghe "model" on a circular altar and a stone chief's seat. Depending on how many locations are selected to be included on the extension list, it is questionable if it will make the cut.

Parco Archeologico Santa Cristina is a larger nuraghe+. Its central part is well-preserved remnants of a Christian village, centered on the church built on this site around 1200 CE. The nuraghe proper is located in a surprisingly wooded area a couple of hundred meters beyond the village. The central fortress here consists of a single truncated tower, while the rest has more of a feel of an archaeological dig, with only a few defined structure outlines. There is another roofed space that can …

The addition of the Nuragic monumets of Sardinia with 31 components to the TWHS list of Italy in November 2021 was no surprise. It can be taken as an extension of the Su Nuraxi di Barumini WHS, which was inscribed in 1997. Extensions, or better said very extensive extensions - in this case from 1 to 31, might be controversial and contra-productive. However, this is not the case, in my opinion. From the scientific point of view, the original single component has been inscribed under criteria i, iii, iv, while the serial TWHS was proposed under iii, iv, v. Thus, the OUV will be (slightly) changed. The justification is based on 20 years of new excavations and findings. Furthermore, the serial nomination has ambitions to encompass all the aspects of the bronze-age Nuragic culture of Sardinia. It means that the original OUV will be enriched after the possible extension.

I visited only one component of the series in October 2017: No.22 Nuraghe Arrubiu - Orroli, which is located on the mountainous plateau in the southern part of Sardinia. I have very nice memories to the visit. The site was recommended to us by the stuff of the visitor center of Pranu Muttedu (another TWHS) as one of the finest archeologicel site of Sardinia. Nuraghe Arrubiu is quite remote but beautiful place (we went by a rent car), however, parking lot and quite big visitor center is well prepared for tourists, but there were only few other visitors in October. …